Eu/russia/poland : No Breakthrough in Talks on Russian Meat Ban

Eu/russia/poland : No Breakthrough in Talks on Russian Meat Ban

Article excerpt

The two-day consultations between Moscow and the representatives of Poland, Germany and the European Commission over the continuing Russian ban on Polish meat imports failed to break a stalemate which has been lasting for more than a year.

"The meeting was hardly productive," Marek Zagorski, the Polish Deputy Minister of Agriculture, was cited by the Polish Press Agency (PAP) as saying after the conclusion of the series of meetings in Moscow on 13 March.

The parties agreed that Moscow will send to Poland and the Commission the comprehensive reports summarising the outcome of its veterinary inspections carried out in Poland in February.

"During the inspections [in Poland], our specialists raised many questions that prevented them from preparing comprehensive reports. Therefore we sent to the Commission preliminary reports asking for the white holes' to be filled in. However, we have not received any answer yet," Sergei Dankvert, the Chief of the Federal Veterinarian and Sanitarian Inspection Board (Rossielchoznadzor) was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying.

Warsaw and Brussels will then have two weeks to send back to Russia their replies to the questions raised by the Russian inspectors after checking Polish meat processing facilities. The Russian side promised to prepare "as soon as possible" its response to the replies to be sent by Poland and the EU, said Minister Zagorski. Only after this long chain of procedures is accomplished will the next meeting be held between all involved parties in Brussels or in Warsaw. …